1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to greenhouses, and is particularly concerned with a hobby-type, miniature greenhouse having a frame constructed of standard tubular plumbing segments and standard plumbing fittings, which when disassembled, may be stored and/or transported in a drawstring bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As pointed out in the above-referenced provisional application, the growing of garden vegetables and flowers is limited at various locations on earth by temperature extremes, aridity, excessive precipitation and damage by insects and animals. Excessive cold and hot air temperatures and soil temperatures, frost and freeze limit the growing season. In order to extend the growing season, seeds must be started in a protected environment, soils must be heated or cooled and the plants must be protected from frost and freeze. And, because of an excessive moisture problem, it may be necessary to enclose or shade plants to reduce evapotranspiration. Common structures for protecting plants from the foregoing are cold frames, greenhouses and row protectors. Plants may be protected from insects by an agricultural fabric, which is also called a floating row cover, a light-weight woven material that permits sufficient sunlight therethrough for plant growth, but excludes insects. Animal pests are also excluded from garden plants by use of a physical barrier such as bird netting or hardware cloth as a physical barrier.
Cold frames, greenhouses and row covers are not effective solutions for the above problems for the non-commercial gardner because of the prohibitive costs. Most require power tools for assembly or require professional installation, are typically constructed of rigid materials and are to be considered non-portable structures which require periodic repair and maintenance which can be costly and comsume a great amount of time.
Heating and ventilation of greenhouses are also of particular concern for non-commercial gardners. xe2x80x9cHotxe2x80x9d greenhouses require artifical heating, which involves the added costs of heaters and fuel, making the structures more complex and expensive and financially out of the reach of many non-commercial gardners. Ventilation is also necessary to prevent overheating and is performed either manually or by automatic control. Again, time and cost come into the picture xe2x80x9cColdxe2x80x9d greenhouses also require periodic ventilation of excessive heat. Also, manually or automatic opening and closing of vents are required.
Reference should be taken to the above-referenced application for other problems associated with currently-available coldframes row covers and greenhouses. Reference may also be taken to U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,102 for a zipper-type opening, and to U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,744 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,335, both fully incorporated herein by this reference, for the use of hook and loop-type fastened openings.
Tubular frame structures may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,405, U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,744, U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,668, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,002, U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,238, U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,335, U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,902, U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,877 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,503, all fully incorporated herein by this reference. These references also disclose various techniques for joining frame members together and for securing a cover to the frame.
An object of the invention is to provide an easily transportable, light-weight, greenhouse for use by non-commercial gardners.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a greenhouse which is also easily assembled and disassembled.
A further object of the invention is to provide a greenhouse of the type described whose components, when disassembled, can be readily placed into a drawstring bag for storage and transport.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a greenhouse of the type described which is provided with variable, regulated ventilation.
According to a feature of the invention, a greenhouse frame is assembled from a plurality of polyvinylchloride (PVC) tubing cut to specified lengths and standard PVC fittings, and a plurality of push-in/pull-out retainers of, for example, polystyrene. The greenhouse frame may be essentially symmetrical and include a rectangular base frame for supporting the greenhouse on a supporting surface, a gable-type roof frame and a plurality of upright or vertical members for supporting the roof frame above the base frame.
According to another feature of the invention, a cover includes a top and side portion which extends from both sides of the base frame over the vertical members and the roof frame. This first cover portion is attached to at least some of the vertical members and to the roof frame by another plurality of push-in/pull-out retainers and is clipped to the base frame by a pluraliity of xcexa9-shaped clips.
According to yet another feature of the invention, the cover includes easily and totally removable end portions, each of which is attached to the top and/or center portion by a double-pull zipper having box and pin ends for complete disconnection and removal of the end portions. The double pull feature also permits the end portions to be partially unzipped in both directions to xe2x80x9cpeelxe2x80x9d the end portion downwardly by various amounts to regulate ventilation.